CHAPTER 66
066 - It's an Attack

When he jumped back through the blue portal, Jinwoo was in New York. However, since he had checked out of his original hotel long ago, he had to find new accommodations.
After booking a new hotel room and taking a refreshing shower, Jinwoo checked his smartphone. He had received several calls from Ma Doo-sik, Cheon Juhyeok, and even some unknown numbers, but the first person to contact him had been Chartia.
And now.
At an open-air cafe on a New York street, he and Chartia were catching up under the warm sunlight.
"Did something happen?"
Jinwoo frowned slightly at Chartia's subtle reaction.
Had something really happened? The thought that the Sky Lord might have retaliated crossed his mind.
"Ah, no. Nothing major happened."
Realizing she had unintentionally given him the wrong idea, Chartia quickly waved her hands. It wasn't that nothing had happened. There had been a change.
But it wasn't a major disaster that Jinwoo needed to worry about.
"A little while ago, the occurrence of Erosion dropped significantly. It's been observed that the frequency has decreased not just locally, but globally."
"Oh? That's good news."
The news was better than he'd expected, and Jinwoo's expression relaxed. It was just as Kalesian had said. Wrecking the Sky Temple seemed to have severely curtailed the Sky Lord's actions.
Perhaps he no longer had the capacity to worry about Earth after being driven out of the Gate, or maybe other Monarchs were taking this opportunity to keep him in check.
'Either way, it's a good thing for us.'
It could be a temporary phenomenon. No, it was more likely to be temporary. The Sky Lord had only suffered a minor loss; the entity itself was still intact.
Still, the peace they had gained, however brief, was sweet.
"They say it's the first time in decades that the occurrence of Erosion has been this low. But..."
But?
"A different form of Erosion has also started to appear little by little. Individuals like Ireland."
"So you're saying the overall rate of Erosion has decreased, but mobile Erosion entities are starting to appear more often?"
"Yes."
The occurrence of Erosion had decreased. But the instances of a Monarch's servant appearing within that smaller number of incidents had increased.
As a result, the Hunter Management Bureaus of every country were having a hard time. It might be fine for now, but if more servants appeared in the future, there was no telling what might happen.
Having witnessed the great disaster New York suffered because of Ireland, they couldn't afford to be complacent just because the rate of Erosion had dropped.
"Still, there haven't been any individuals like Ireland. Most of the Erosion can be handled sufficiently by A-class Hunters alone."
"But there's no guarantee it will stay that way in the future, is that what you're saying?"
That was why Chartia's expression had been so grim. She had experienced Ireland firsthand.
'If Jinwoo hadn't been there, we might not have been able to defeat Ireland. If that had happened, New York would have fallen. A city this large...'
Humanity's territory on Earth was already extremely small. While there were many cities left, it was a drop in the bucket compared to the past when they had explored and conquered all lands.
The possibility that even those few remaining cities could fall. This was no time to rest on the laurels of a brief peace.
After hearing Chartia's update on Earth's situation, Jinwoo was lost in thought for a moment.
'The one who Eroded Earth was the Sky Lord. Most of the remaining cores and servants on Earth must be his.'
If so, wouldn't they react to his divine object?
How would they react if he cut them down with the Sky Lord's scabbard?
He was dying to find out.

Right then and there, Jinwoo booked a flight and started preparing to return. When he told Chartia, she said she would return with him.
"My work in New York was finished long ago. I was just waiting for you, Jinwoo."
"Your work?"
"Yes. There were a few things."
Her tone was somewhat meaningful. It made sense that she would have had many things to attend to, returning to her hometown after so long.
He checked the airline's website and found a flight for the same day. First class was fully booked, leaving only regular seats, but he didn't mind. He wanted to get back quickly more than he wanted to travel comfortably.
Still, being a same-day ticket, it was more than twice the usual price. After completing the payment, the two of them packed their respective bags and left for the airport.
"Have a comfortable flight... ah..."
As they were boarding the plane, the flight attendant checking their tickets looked slightly surprised to see Jinwoo and Chartia. They had worn sunglasses as a light disguise, but it seemed it was obvious up close.
"Please have a comfortable flight."
However, she didn't acknowledge them in front of the other passengers. She was someone who could read the atmosphere and was considerate of her customers' feelings. After thanking her for her hard work, the two took their seats.
"Phew, it's nice to fly on the same day, but it's a bit cramped."
"Should we have booked a first-class flight, even if it meant waiting a bit longer?"
"No! I can't waste days of your time, Jinwoo."
Chartia said with a smile. Jinwoo smiled back, grateful for her constant consideration.
"By the way, may I ask what happened on the 3rd Floor?"
"On the 3rd Floor?"
"I've heard a lot of rumors, but I want to hear it from you directly."
Looking closely, he could feel a faint, invisible barrier of mana spreading around them. It was a barrier often used when discussing confidential matters.
"The 3rd Floor..."
A lot had happened. Some of it could be explained simply, while other parts were not so easy to talk about.
She probably wanted to hear about how he brought down the Sky Temple, so it would be fine to give her a brief account of the events.
"Actually, Mahiri made a proposal even before I entered the Gate."
"Mahiri from New Delhi? What kind of proposal?"
"She suggested we raid one of the temples on the 3rd Floor."
Jinwoo explained with a wry smile. How he had rejected the proposal at the time. But then, by chance, he had found her fighting Lin Shenlin on the 3rd Floor.
How he had accepted the proposal on the spot, and how he had ended up invading the empty Sky Temple himself.
He didn't mention the God of the Moonlight Forest or the golden apple, but there was still more than enough to talk about.
As expected, Chartia listened to Jinwoo's story with a very focused expression, occasionally adding appropriate interjections.
"They said temples have guardians protecting them, but the Sky Temple had some sort of barrier cast on it."
"A barrier?"
"It was a barrier that shook my perception and made me see illusions."
But Jinwoo had his ability and was able to see through the illusions and walk the correct path. When he destroyed the guardian protecting the temple, that was the result.
"Wow, so that's what happens when you destroy a temple. I had no idea."
"I feel unintentionally sorry for those who were accumulating the Sky Lord's Contribution Points."
"Speaking of which, there was a bit of a stir when Lin Shenlin from Hong Kong escaped."
"Come to think of it, what happened to him?"
Lin Shenlin, who had fled from Kalesian and Ipril by jumping into the red portal leading to the 4th Floor. Had he made it back to Earth safely?
"A citizen in Hong Kong took and uploaded a photo of Lin Shenlin with his hat pulled down low. I can't show you because my phone is in airplane mode."
"You can just describe it. What kind of photo was it?"
"It was just an ordinary picture. He was wearing a hat and buying alcohol at a convenience store."
"So nothing happened to him at all."
"However, I heard through my connections that there's an unconfirmed rumor."
An unconfirmed rumor?
"There's a rumor that Lin Shenlin is suffering from Qi Deviation. But judging from that social media photo and the fact that he seems to be living his daily life normally, I don't know if it's true."
"Qi Deviation..."
"The Hong Kong Hunter Management Bureau has been giving Lin Shenlin a lot of support, and people are speculating that it's because he has Qi Deviation."
If the rumor wasn't true, it didn't matter. But what if it was?
Did the Qi Deviation occur because of his fight with Kalesian?
'I doubt it. That doesn't seem likely.'
Sorry to Kalesian, but at the time he fought Lin Shenlin, his combat power wasn't that exceptional.
His breath attack itself was powerful enough that even an S-class couldn't ignore it, but his overall combat strength wasn't on that level. He was probably mid-tier among S-class Hunters.
Even with Ipril joining the fight, Lin Shenlin wouldn't have struggled that much.
So for him to suffer from Qi Deviation meant...
'It's one of two things. It's either the aftermath of the Sky Temple falling, or...'
He was already suffering from Qi Deviation to begin with.
Either way was plausible. Having accumulated over 100 million Contribution Points and received blessings, only for it to suddenly disappear, could have thrown his ki and blood into chaos, causing him to fall prey to inner demons. It was a plausible story.
The other possibility was plausible too. He was already suffering from Qi Deviation and was relying on the Sky Lord's blessing to resolve it?
It wasn't an entirely impossible story.
'Then it would make sense why an S-class Hunter would stay on the 3rd Floor. He didn't just stop by; he stayed for years.'
It wouldn't be strange for someone like Kurenai Masato to visit the 3rd Floor for a short while.
But for an S-class Hunter to stay on the 3rd Floor for over a year? That was certainly bizarre.
If the truth was that he was trying to resolve his Qi Deviation with the help of a god's power, then everything made sense.
'Only he knows the truth, though.'
Of course, both possibilities were just speculation. Having never fought Lin Shenlin directly nor set foot in Hong Kong, Jinwoo had no way of knowing the truth.
The conversation that started with the 3rd Floor more or less ended with the story of Lin Shenlin. There was still a lot of time left before they arrived in Seoul.
After asking for Chartia's understanding, Jinwoo leaned back deep into his seat and closed his eyes. He couldn't recline his seat like he could on a private jet, but Jinwoo could rest deeply in any place, in any position.
"Sleep well."
"You should get some rest too, Chartia."
Nodding, Chartia also leaned back comfortably in her seat. She was about to dispel the mana barrier but glanced at the sleeping Jinwoo and decided to leave it up.
Blocking out the outside noise would help him sleep more deeply. Maintaining this level of mana was as easy as breathing for her.
'I should sleep, too.'
Next to Jinwoo, she also closed her eyes and sought sleep. Her consciousness grew hazy as she gradually drifted into the world of dreams.
[A Fragment of a Past Life emerges.]
She failed to see the message that flashed by the moment she fell asleep.

She saw a large tree.
A tree that embraced and encompassed everything. The tree that gave birth to countless lives was also a tree that absorbed countless lives.
There was no good or evil in it. The tree was merely a part of nature, where life and death circulated.
Beneath it, there was a man.
The man was sweeping soft, white sand with his hands, and the sand that flowed from his hands was building a tower on its own.
— I am sorry.
The man spoke to her. His voice was so full of guilt and pity that she wanted to comfort him.
But unfortunately, she did not yet have a mouth. Not only that, but she had no eyes or nose. She was still an unopened bud.
— To hide in that space, a point of contact is needed. Between worlds. A milestone is needed so as not to get lost in that formless space.
And so, the man planted a single flower in the tower. It was a bud from which a new life was about to be born.
Though she had not yet been born, she could see him and convey her will.
No, it would be more correct to say that the man could read her will, rather than her conveying it.
— Someday, will you come for me?
Deep guilt filled the man's eyes. It would probably be impossible for him to come for her while she was still alive.
She would have to die and become a flower, be reincarnated, and die once more to become a flower again.
Perhaps only after repeating that cycle several times would that day arrive.
The man told her everything honestly. He was about to give her an ordeal worse than death, and he didn't want to lie on top of that.
— Will you come for me?
But she consistently asked only one thing. Pleading for him to promise only that.
Reading her intent, the man answered, betting his soul.
— I will. Absolutely.
When that time comes, let's go on a journey together. Let's reclaim the lost years with all our might.
Promising a day when they would see the world together, when they would venture out on an adventure together.
KUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNG!
"Huh?"
"Chartia!"
Suddenly, the plane vibrated and shook violently. The mana barrier Chartia had deployed had also vanished.
It wasn't the kind of mana that would disappear from a physical impact. The fact that it had disappeared meant that a phenomenon that interfered with mana had occurred simultaneously.
"Jinwoo!? What's happening?"
Quickly coming to her senses, she asked Jinwoo. Jinwoo had already drawn his sword and was staring up at the plane's ceiling.
Was it an accident? Just as she was thinking that, Jinwoo answered.
"It's an attack."
KWAJIK!
A scythe-like, or perhaps spear-like, object pierced through the plane's ceiling and dug in.